1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid distributor for heat and material exchange column, more particularly of the lining type, for example air distillation columns, of the type comprising a series of adjacent parallel extruded elements defining alternate gas and liquid spaces, each extruded element containing at least one horizontal lower wall portion provided with one row of apertures and at least one upright wall portion provided with a row of openings.
2. Description of Prior Art
A distributor of this type is described in the document GB-A-2 046 623, where the distributor is covered with a randomly arranged lining e.g. packing consisting of bulk elements.
The use of organized packings in distillation columns of the undulated crossed type, such as described in the document WO 89/10527 in the name of the Assignee and which content is understood to be incorporated herein by reference, presents important advantages, such as from the point of view of loss of charge of the rising gas. However, it has been limited to this date by the difficulty represented by the necessity of uniformly distributing the liquid at the top of each lining section.
In large diameter columns, linings of the "undulated-crossed" type are not self-supporting. Therefore, for each column section, it is not only necessary to collect the liquid which falls from the upper lining section, distribute this liquid uniformly on the lower lining section, and promote, without loss of excessive load, a good distribution of the rising gas, but it is also required to support the upper lining section along its entire surface and give a higher rest to the lower lining section.
This complicated problem has not been solved up to now in an entirely satisfactory manner: in the proposed solutions, one or more of the above functions where imperfectly fulfilled, and/or the resulting vertical congestion was excessive.
The invention aims at providing a distributor with a structure which is very rigid and little cumbersome, and which is capable of uniformly distributing the liquid while providing a good gas distribution.